Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off! But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.
-Amelia Earhart
CodeWizardsHQ instructor Anaiti Aruaz’s childhood hero is Amelia Earhart. Much like the pioneering pilot, Anaiti loves to fly. She shares a keen sense of wonder about technology and the future with her hero as well. Anaiti is also passionate about encouraging CodeWizardsHQ students to be inspired by the tech skills of the future.
“I think that we’re at a revolution in technology. There’s this huge thing going on right now where I think that technology and tech careers are going to be the modern medicine of this century.”
A Passion for Technology
Anaiti’s interest in learning to code started in a high school robotics class. She also taught herself HTML/CSS as a teen. Drawn to the tech world, she initially obtained a 2-year degree in mechanical engineering.
“During my undergrad, I was a mechanical engineering major and was studying the mechanisms of renewable energy propulsion systems. I was invited by Siemens to tour and study one of their European partners, Borsan, a renewable energy company in Turkey. I was placed in their solar farm project to study the most optimal battery capacity of solar system transformers. I loved it but saw that I could impact more with programming.”
Ultimately Anaiti did attain a Bachelor’s in Computer Science in Software Engineering. She completed her last college years studying virtually while in Egypt with her husband and new baby. She is currently in a master’s program.
Teaching Tech
Anaiti’s experience isn’t exclusive to programming and engineering. She also holds a teaching certification and has taught English to a wide range of students whose native languages include Russian, Chinese, Japanese, and Turkish. Pairing her teaching experience with a passion for programming was a natural fit for Anaiti. She saw an ad for CodeWizardsHQ.
“When I found this I thought, I can teach something that I’m passionate about, and it’s related to my field and it’s also online. So I just thought it was such an amazing opportunity. I decided to teach coding because it’s something that I wish was around when I was younger.”
Anaiti teaches all levels at CodeWizardsHQ from beginning Scratch for elementary students to the High School Capstone courses. When asked about her favorite courses to teach, she reports that she enjoys all of them, but several in particular stand out.
“I like all of them, but I would probably say I love the transition where the kids are going from Scratch to Python. It’s really exciting to see the kids achieve tasks that they’ve never met before. Not only are they learning something new, but you can see this expression of, ‘Oh, my gosh! I did that!’ You can just tell their overall satisfaction and how they feel accomplished. I also love the capstone classes because itR